Complete Care for Your Aging Cat - Amy Shojai [46]
· Shut off the valve on the IV line to stop the fluid, and then gently remove the needle from your pet. It’s normal for a small amount of fluid to leak back out of the injection site—especially when given over the shoulders. Giving fluid over the ribs with the needle inserted downwards will reduce this loss. You can also help the injection site hole to close by rubbing and massaging the place. Offer your cat a scrumptious treat afterward to help associate the treatment with good things.
Comfort Zone
Ask your veterinarian about the new “indwelling catheters” designed for subcutaneous (beneath the skin) administration of fluid. Dr. Martin G. St. Germain of Practivet developed the administration unit, called the Greta Implantable Fluid Tube (GIF-Tube). The nine-inch silicon tube is surgically implanted just beneath the cat’s skin and a small skirt of material is sutured in place to hold the tube steady. An injection port is attached to the outside portion of the tube. The veterinarian will change the port each month, but the tube itself can remain in place for up to a year. A needleless injector connects to administer fluids through the port. That allows you to give fluids to your cat without poking him with a needle.
Golden Moments: Caring for Kricket
Karen and Len Holden of Cedar Hill, Texas, currently share their lives with three senior citizen cats. Tiffany (aka “Tiff-the-Terror”) is the baby at 8. “She is our perpetual kitten. It’s like having a two-year-old loose in your house 24/7,” says Karen. Pumpkin, an orange gentle-giant of a cat, is 12. “He is the most laid-back guy you will ever come across.” The two cats are great pals, and usually leave the oldest cat alone.
Eighteen-year-old Kricket is a Persian/Manx and the matriarch of the cat clan. She still rules the roost. “She can be very grumpy with the other fur-kids,” says Karen, “but with Len and me she is very loving. ” Kricket has overcome many challenges in her long life. The black and gray tabby survived the bite of a water moccasin snake, being hit by a car, and even was lost for six weeks before returning home. “We should have named her “Timex” because she takes a lickin and keeps on tickin,” says Karen.
The cat has led a more protected indoor-only life since moving in with the Holdens. When their granddaughter Danielle was born, Kricket became the baby’s protector. “She’d hiss at anybody who came close!” says Karen.
Today the elderly cat is still determined to get her way. “In bed at night, she will paw at my shoulder until I turn over and face her. She’ll rear up like a horse and come down on the tap light, and turn it on and off, until I give up and get out of bed.” The pair is so close that Karen immediately knew Kricket needed prompt medical help when she became sick last November. Her personality changed, she began drinking and urinating too much, refused to eat, and acted very depressed.
Since it was after the regular clinic’s hours and Kricket couldn’t be seen until morning, Karen called another facility. “The Desoto Animal Hospital said to bring her in immediately,” says Karen. Dr. Erin F. Barcevac examined Kricket and diagnosed her in the early stages of kidney failure.
A therapeutic diet was prescribed to help take the strain off the cat’s kidneys. “The vet says the main thing is to keep her eating,” says Karen. Foods for Tiff and Pumpkin are also available, and Kricket alternates and grazes from three brands on the “kitty snack bar.”
At first, fluid therapy (a sterile saline solution) was administered twice a week at the hospital. The treatment helped Kricket maintain a good attitude. “She was still quite alert, active, extremely affectionate, and had the appetite of a bear coming out of hibernation,” says Karen.
But the veterinary visits—Kricket screamed and complained